Hey everyone, Aaron here. I’ve been repairing your instruments alongside Benjamin for the last 4 months, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of you in the shop by now. I’ve even seen some of you out on gigs around town! It’s been great getting to know you, the working musicians of New Orleans, and hearing your stories. It’s one of the things I love most about this job. But perhaps some of you are curious about me, the new guy around the shop. So, if nobody minds, I’m highjacking the blog to tell you a little about what I’m up to when I’m not bringing your guitars back to life (hint – much of it still involves hunching over a bench working on guitars. More on that in a bit).
For those of you who don’t know, I play in a band called Mobile Steam Unit from New York City. I think we’re a rock band. We call ourselves “garage soul’, which is the only thing we could come up with when it was time to “define our sound” to strangers. Anyone who’s been in a band knows how impossible this is to do. Anyway, the hyperlinks below should allow you to decide our identity and judge us. Benjamin describes us as “Indie Queen”.
https://mobilesteamunit.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/mobile-steam-unit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJzqYyf_vi0
*The last link is a short film about our attempt at pitching a voicemail jingle to our favorite Indian restaurant. It’s harder than it looks folks, but never give up.
I just got back into town from a tour through the Northeast with these guys, and we had a great time. Here are some photos from a recent show we played in Brooklyn where we all dressed up like characters from a comic book we created. Yes, we actually printed multiple runs of a comic book.
There it is. Mobile Steam Unit. Moms love it.
You may have noticed the guitar i’m playing in these photos. You may have even asked yourself what it is. Well, this is a Maret guitar.
Maret Guitars is a custom guitar company run by my partner in California, James Creston, and myself. I started making guitars under the guidance of my father when I was a kid in the ’90s, then I started taking custom orders around 2006, and finally, I formed a partnership with James in 2008. He and I have been building Maret Guitars on and off ever since. I took a break from it while working at Fodera Guitars in Brooklyn, NY, but now we’re back at it, and we’re making the coolest guitars we’ve ever made!
https://www.instagram.com/maretguitars/
We’re working with Gregory Silverman (@gasbrooklyn_), an artist in NYC, on a series of hand-painted guitars. He specializes in photorealistic automobile paintings, and James and I both happen to be pretty big fans of vintage cars. So, we’re building a series of classic car inspired electric guitars. We currently have one completed: a 1951 Buick Super. Pretty hot!
We also have the 2nd guitar of the series in process. This one is inspired by the California surf culture of the 1960s. Here’s a sneak peak:
If these guitars excite you, and you want to check them out in person, come by the shop! I’d be happy to show them to you.
So there you have it. This is the stuff that I’m up to when Benjamin and I aren’t hustling to get your #1 axe fixed before your next gig.
Thanks for reading,
Aaron
